The knight bridled to the horse of knowledge,
All seeing, yellow sky of light and smoke
The steppes and loess wind blown
Hulking, guarded wind
The reversal of fortune, turning against the self

Imagine lying prone in the desert
Swords setting the sun, piercing
Each bundle of nerves down the spine
This pain, this misfortune
Idle, inert, discouraged
Turned down to rest
Torpor, defeated, stagnant
Repeating the same destructive cycle

This is the way to turn back the sky,
The way to the middle, underbelly of horse
Safe from the wind, a sword, a saber
Cut open the softness,
Lie down inside
The Boneyard

Mitch Manning is the Program Coordinator of Artistic, Media Projects, and Special Events at the Joiner Institute. He helps organize the Joiner Speaker Series, public events, and other cultural projects. He is a graduate of the UMass Boston MFA program and Suffolk University. He teaches in the English and Critical Reading and Writing programs at UMass Boston and is an assistant editor for CONSEQUENCE Magazine, an international literary magazine focusing on the culture of war. He has had poems and interviews published in print and online literary journals and edits the journal No Infinite.